Nash Flash

12/17/2006

2006-07 NBA appreciation list

It is this time of the year again when allegiances change, at least for me, in the NBA. There is not much of a shakeup going on at the extremes. It is more of the battle of who would get the fourth to 24th spots in my annual list.

1 Indiana Pacers

There is no need for much explanation here. I told myself that I would change teams when Reggie Miller retires. Guess what, it has not happened yet. With a new and young core, there is a newfound hope and persona emanating from the Pacers. And finally, Ron Artest is officially gone. That is a big sigh of relief. Don't believe the standings. They are better than what they seem.

2 Phoenix Suns

What is with the Suns? This is not the kind of start I am expecting. Some say it is the new ball. I guess everybody is adjusting with a recovering Amare Stoudemire who has found his groove back as of late, and Mike D’Antoni is finally utilizing his bench (but sucks to be Steven Hunter because he is still the 12th man in a small team). I would try to take this in stride as long as Steve Nash is dishing out MVP-like numbers.

3 Houston Rockets

Speaking of MVP-like numbers, Yao Ming has finally woken up! Just sucks that Juwan Howard is now finding himself out of place in the rotation with the arrival of Shane Battier. I only find it weird that T-Mac is unusually quiet, which I think works in favour of the Rockets.

4 San Antonio Spurs

Bruce Bowen controversies aside, it is a good year to be a Spurs fan this year. Manu Ginobili has emerged from the shadows of his international teammates and Eva Longoria is single once again. Boring snoring (do they really have to rhyme?). Tim Duncan is still the most effective post player there is. May you have a good season over there, James White. Sorry you just had to be cut at the last moment.

5 Los Angeles Clippers

I find it weird that there is a Los Angeles team this high in my list. Plus the fact that they have Sam Cassell and Cuttino Mobley in the lineup, two non-likeable players in my personal list. But if they are necessary evils for Elton Brand to make it to the next level, why not. There is Shaun Livingston to placate for the two. Chris Kaman may not be a David Beckham, but when he got balls grabbed differently, we are into something here.

6 New Orleans Hornets

For a team that is actually flying low in the radar in the offseason save for their trade moves, they are up here. Makes me wonder also. Let me see… they have fantasy fodders Chris Paul, David West, and unlike Ron Artest, there are no ill feelings between the Pacers and Peja Stojakovic.

7 Denver Nuggets

Two names: Carmelo Anthony and Marcus Camby. Although I have learned not to gamble on Camby in fantasy, he is still a likeable player. Better thing that K-Mart is out for the season. And what is the idea with signing Nene long-term when he is not even playing? What is up with that, Kiki?

8 Charlotte Bobcats

Yes, I have been making fun of crybaby Adam Morrison. That is because everybody is conceding to him the Rookie of the Year. I beg to differ. Still, if you have fantasy baby and almost Defensive Player of the Year Gerald Wallace, you would rise up in my charts. Raymond Felton, Brevin Knight, and Emeka Okafor. They are loaded from 1 to 5. Now to see some wins go their way.

9 Boston Celtics

For a Paul Pierce team, they are still bereft of an identity. Maybe it is this yearly shuffling they do. One time you have Antoine Walker, next time you do not have him, then you have him again the year after, then waive him the next offseason. Now that is over and done with, the Celitcs have nowhere to go but up. Rajon Rondo, Sebastian Telfair, Kendrick Perkins, Al Jefferson, Delonte West. Young guys and all likeable. How could I forget Wally Szczerbiak, the rich man’s Kyle Korver?

10 Dallas Mavericks

The Mavs had two separate deals with the Pacers and I would like to thank them for giving us DA, Rawle Marshall, and Josh Powell. The odd thing is, save for the former Pacers, there is no other likeable player in that lineup. Despite the finals appearance, my views regarding Stack, Van Horn, or Terry haven't changed a bit. Also, Devean George is part of the ‘old Lakers’ that I abhor so much. For some strange reason, this thing works. Care to share your secret, Mark?

11 Orlando Magic

This is a team that is on its way up. Granted that Grant Hill is actually playing, the thing is, the attention is not him. Rather, eyes and ears are on perpetual fantasy sleeper Jameer Nelson, phenom Dwight Howard, and relative overachiever Darko Milicic. Finally, the franchise has conquered its post-Penny Hardaway demons.

12 Toronto Raptors

Another team that has moved on from its “former superstar” issues. They have an all-new identity, partly with the help of former Phoenix Suns extreme makeover artist (who is also trying to do the same with USA Basketball) David Colangelo. The running game is there. But what is more noticeable is that they are one of NBA’s resident team United Nations. You have a Spanish point guard, a Ukranian center, an underrated Team USA member, and a former Indiana Pacer in a Canadian team. Oh yeah, Indiana is not a country. But what the heck, I just need to mention Fred Jones.

13 Chicago Bulls

This is my “dark horse” team. They would probably be the next Eastern Conference team I would cheer for in case Indiana gets eliminated. They are just fun to watch. Fantasy cannons in all five positions. You will never lose if you have a Bull in your lineup. Even their bench could erupt on a good day, and it is not because Ben Gordon is relegated to sixth man after starting the first few games of the season. Just because Ron Artest is such a bigger ash, I may forgive Ben Wallace sometime soon for what he did back in Detroit.

14 Golden State Warriors

You will never know what to expect from Baron Davis. There are times he is this likeable do-it-all, at other times he is this annoying ballhog. I guess something good is going on at that part of California for their pleasantly-better-than-usual start. I just do not know what. It seems that neighbor teams take the entire spotlight.

15 Atlanta Hawks

If I am correct, I have mentioned previously that the middle slots are reserved for the ‘forgotten’ teams. I do not hate you that much to be at the bottom ten, but I would not exactly jump high up in excitement if I found out you won or are actually doing well. And to a certain extent, the Hawks fit the bill. That Joe Johnson for Boris Diaw and draft picks trade last year made for some head-scratching headlines, but after that, it is back to the back of the pack for Atlanta. There is a devoid of news coming from Georgia that their latest newsmakers are the Al Harrington homecoming to Indiana and that Speedy Claxton was projected to be a fantasy sleeper. And somehow, their top draft picks also end up being shelved out of Rookie of the Year talks.

16 Cleveland Cavaliers

Single-handedly, nailbiter LeBron James keeps the Cavs in circulation. Trade him away and Cleveland would become ‘just another team’ even if you have Drew Gooden, Zadrunas Ilgauskas, Donyell Marshall, Larry Hughes, Damon Jones, and Carlito look-alike Anderson Verajao. And somehow, Zaza Pachulia always gets mentioned in blogs. Then again, if he taunts that he would play an offseason and decided to sit out instead, there is something wrong with the picture.

17 Milwaukee Bucks

Milwaukee who? Andrew Bogut, yeah yeah. Charlie, not Enrico, Villanueva was a fantasy surprise. Who else rings a bell than-God-zoo-reek? I do not know how the Bucks do it, but they still manage to make it to the playoffs even if they are in a competitive division. It must be with the water over there. I do not know. Tell me.

18 Memphis Grizzlies

I wonder what is going on in “Logo land”? With the season-ending injury of Pau Gasol, everything is so quiet in Tennessee. The only thing making news over there is Mike Miller’s new do. I do not know what philosophy they use over there right now, but two seasons ago they were considered a fantasy black hole since they had this “everybody must play” mantra. Tell me if things have changed in Elvis’ birth city.

19 Minnesota Timberwolves

Another one of them ‘silent’ teams. Yes, they have Mickie James, Rashad McCants, Randy Foye, and the eternal Kevin Garnett. But they also have Ricky Davis (who is particularly well-behaved the past few seasons, good for him) and some others. Do not be surprised if KG leaves for purpler pastures next season if the Wolves continue to sputter... or if they don't fulfill Garnett's wish of having AI as a teammate.

20 Seattle Supersonics

One thing is for sure. They are leaving the land of grunge and coffee for somewhere else. I heard they are going to Katrina-land. Wherever. Their most recent first round picks suck. That being said, there is obviously something wrong there. You acquire Chris Wilcox and his game declines. What is up with that? Hello, Ray Allen?

21 Utah Jazz

If not for Carlos Boozer and the ghosts of John Stockton and Karl Malone, Utah would have been higher in my list. You have two young likeable guards, Mehmet Okur, and of course, AK47. Better yet, Greg Ostertag is nowhere to be found.

22 Washington Wizards

Sigh… Gilbert Arenas. Where would the Wizards be if you are not there? Maybe higher in my list, but probably lower in the standings. That said, I am stumped. How could I go wrong? Jarvis Hayes, Etan Thomas, and Antawn Jamison. Another case of one guy pulling the team down in my list. Groin injury, my neck. Just say you do not have the balls to be manly cut out of the national team.

23 Portland Trailblazers

They are this high because I just hate the teams below them a wee bit more. Things actually became clearer when they traded Sebastian Telfair away. As for Jarrett Jack, two things are imminent. He would be dealt away because he does not fit the bill or he would overstay and transform into one of them guys. That is how you enter into Jailblazer prison.

24 New Jersey Nets

Just their misfortune that Vince Carter is not acting up because he is on a contract season. Vincesanity is just one big caveat waiting to happen. You have been warned, Jason Kidd. Keep Richard Jefferson and Nenad Krstic. Waive Carter and shop for a free agent/s that has/have more value in the long run and not keep a choosy whiner. Speaking of whiners, there are more down the list.

25 Sacramento Kings

Thank you, Maloofs, for taking in Ron Artest. Just pray he does not explode within your lifetime. After a surprising playoff run, there is a relative silence going on. The last time I heard nil from the other purple squad (meaning, the Kings) was when Mitch Richmond was the leading scorer and they were piling losses. I say, Artest, punch a security guard or something, so that interest would return that side of the coast.

26 Detroit Pistons

Now that Ben Wallace is gone, the Pistons do not know where to go next. This is what you get for under-utilizing your bench and a coach whose philosophy is poles apart from the one he replaced while trying to replicate previous successes by doing the same things, albeit ineffectively. You are going down. And because of that, the Pacers are going up.

27 New York Knickerbockers

Need I say more? Sucky as general manager who is ‘demoted’ to coach (and he was proven to suck at that department also) having sucky players in a sucky city. Not many would agree to that, but come on. You have the Knicks and the Yankees in the same state. Again, need I say more? Well, Nate Robinson’s block on Yao Ming is a classic. But that is it.

28 Philadelphia 76ers

As long as the old AI is there, my opinion on the Sixers would not change. Even if you fill up the rosters with players I prefer, which is not even halfway of the current lineup. I am not surprised that Chris Webber (and surprisingly, Iverson himself) wants out.

29 Miami Heat

Just because they became overnight champions, they now have a right to act like brats? Wrong-o! First they rant about the ball, then complain that he did not have an offseason playing for flag and country. Welcome to the club, D-Whine Wade. You are now a certified superstar, especially after getting those ‘Jordan fouls’ in the finals. No need to be coy about it. Go on, the air pressure on that head is going to blow soon. I predict a team dissolution if they would have a disappointing season. Since they set the bar high up, anything less than a finals conference appearance is considered a dud.

30 Los Angeles Lakers

A change of number, a change of attitude coming from my side? Not exactly. I still hate one player in that team even if I like the makeup of the current roster.

12/10/2006

What is the vernacular of 'U-Turn'?

Is there really one? I asked around and did an SMS brigade to find out. One replied asking exactly the query I wrote to begin this post. Here are the answers I got:

IkutanLiko pa-ULiko-paikotU-turnIkot-pabalikLumiko ka pabalik

As you notice, some responses are absurd, some are outright literal. Much like the project we had in FILIDIS back in DLSU-Manila where we were asked to survey on what may be considered as proper translations of certain computer terms. Thus, ‘page definition’ could be peyj definisyon, pahinang pang depinisyon (or its deeper Tagalog equivalent), or retain page definition as is.

Somehow, the first one is closer to what is currently considered as academic Filipino. As such, faculti and asaynment are legit Filipino words. This is what my prof in FILIDIS coin as “De La Salle Filipino”. She explained that every major educational institution has its own Filipino linguistics studies to formalize what Filipino is as a language and what constitutes it. I am not exactly sure how “Ateneo Filipino” but she cited a comparison that “UP Filipino” would translate liquid to likido, whereas “DLS Filipino” would spell it out as likwid. Now you see where this is going?

Thanks to Bjoe’s Wikipedia hunting, I discovered that Filipino as we know it was ratified in 2001. Thus, the awkward Filipinized foreign terms we now consider as official and academic is referred to as Filipino (2001) to differentiate from the Filipino I learned in high school and the Pilipino that my older brothers learned in their formative years.

One thing is for sure, Filipino, unlike Greek, is a vibrant language – alive, ever-changing, and evolving. For further reference, I would include in this post Bjoe’s email.

Disclaimer: This requires about an hour or two of Wiki-reading.

Browsing through Wikipedia for categories of Chinese and Filipino dialects (sporadically and acceptably referred to as actual languages), I happened upon several Wiki entries that I found quite arresting. The order in which I present these URLs does not mirror the order in which I read them, but I am presenting this in a manner which would've probably made it easier for my digestion if it were pre-outlined for me. (I highly recommend using Mozilla or tab-supported browsers).

Humorous as they may be, I found these last several pages very informative. They brought about some aspects of the culture(s) I grew up in that I never really paid much attention to, and enlightened me on certain questions I had regarding my background, exempli gratia: “How did I end up with an English ancestor?”, “Why do most Filipino-Chinese speak Hokkien and not Mandarin?”, and the initially-rhetorical question “Why do Coños talk that way, naman eh?”

I’ve lived in some of the most diverse communities throughout my existence on Earth, and I have friends who have exposed me to just about every culture there is out there. I have been subjected to caste, racial classification, stereotyping, prejudiced generalization, and distorted categorization everywhere I go – all based on appearance, my parent’s accents, and my distinct accent which, apparently, is only evident when switching languages in the middle of a conversation. If that wasn’t hard enough, try being a First-generation middle-class American (born in California, the armpit of the world, of all places) product of two Filipino expatriates, particularly a Chinese mother with a lone Spanish ancestor and the end-result of the mingling of the Birmingham (English), de Ocampo (Portugese), Tanjutco (Min Nan expats), and del Pilar (Spanish) clans for a father. Throw in a Native American and an African into the mix, and every racial joke ever conceived might as well be addressed towards me. But never have I been offended by any, although I may jokingly say “I’ll kill anyone who dares to call me a Twinkie,” refusing to be miscataloged as “yellow on the outside, white on the inside.” Matter-of-factly, I am, more of a lemon-frosted donut with vanilla candy sprinkles.

Yes, I said it - I have nothing in the middle. You no contradict me, ok lah?

李将要

PS

Thanks to the IME, (Caveman discovers the IME! Duh-oh!) learning how to read and write in Japanese and Chinese have been made easier. I just need to work on expanding my vocabulary.

ぢっと。(I just made that up. Is there really a Nihongo equivalent to “ditto”?)

12/08/2006

Let us welcome, rookie broke-batch 2006-07

Just look at these names and you could see a common trend:

Rudy GayJJ Red-dickTyrus Thomas (his initials are TT)Adam Morrison

Sure, there is nothing fag-gy with Adam Morrison. He is even someone the Fag Five would want to fix up. But crying like a five-year old baby after losing in the NCAA takes the cake. He just made sobbing like a kid after losing a game fashionable (even if his hair is far from being one).

12/05/2006

PBL Silver Cup appreciation list

The thing with this conference’s PBL is that there is no solid team for me to back up. Sure there are a spatter of former Archers and former Blazers in the league, but they are so scattered, I could not form any bearing of allegiance. Thus, the relative non-excitement and non-anticipation of what is going on.

Yes, I still keep myself updated but I would not really whoop it up if one team wins. It was actually easier to build the list from worst upwards rather than the usual best preferred downwards.

1 TeleTech Titans – this is one team I actually like because of its philosophy, and to a certain extent its coach. It is because of Jerry Codiñera and team consultant Robert Sison that give the Titans its defensive identity and spunk. Plus they have kick-ass shooters that could make it to the PBA at any given time. Add to that former Archers Albert Tirona is assistant coach and Paul Chua is team manager.

2 Harbour Centre Portmasters – the de facto ‘Lasallian’s team’ just because its owner comes from the green side. Well and good. I expect their elevation to the PBA anytime soon now. The recent addition of JC Intal just bolstered their stock, but it is not because of him I favour the team. There are still resident hustle demons in Jerwin Gaco and Ryan Araña to watch out for. And did I mention that Erick Arejola is team manager? Oh yeah, Chico Lanete has been relatively well-behaved since the start of the season.

3 Sista Super Sealants – they are actually more ‘Rain or Shine’ than team Benilde. And whatever happened to Samigue Eman? So, what is a lineup composed of people I do not know doing this high in my list? Easy. Process of elimination.

4 Hapee Teeth Sparklers – there are just UE Warriors everywhere. TeleTech have Robert Labagala and Elmer Espiritu, Harbour Centre has Earn Saguindel, and Hapee has Mark Borboran, Phillip Butel, and if I’m correct, Jurel Cañizares. Talk about another form of ‘Pumaren Magic’ working on. Have I mentioned that even though Joel Dualan is playing second fiddle on the bench, the PCU core is in the roster. Jason Castro, Beau Belga, Ian Garrido, Robbie David, and Lei Mar Navarro compose some of the Dolphins in the squad. Plus the partnership of Paul Moreño and Castro in the backcourt is fun to watch.

5 Magnolia Spinners – a hybrid of old school FEU and current San Beda players, this is essentially a Koy Banal team. Which then makes me wonder why things are not working for them so far this conference. They have Sam Ekwe, Yousif Aljamal, Pong Escobal, hell even Jonas Villanueva and Gerard Jones. They are already stocked in all fronts.

6 Toyota Otis Sparks – remind me to get used to watching a Letran team without a Ronjay Enrile, Boyet Bautista, and Aaron Aban in the lineup. This is just so weird.

7 Kettle Korn Tigers – they are supposed to have Pop Kings as a moniker. Don’t they have better taste? Even if stocked with UST alumni, they are finding life hard in the PBL. Which makes me scratch my head… or maybe not. I somehow see this coming. But I did not expect it to be this bad. Winless since taking the UAAP men’s basketball championship. Bad, cheetah.

8 Cebuana Lhuillier-Pera Padala Moneymen – a team you would love to hate. They have two of the Three Kings, plus they have overweight (and surprisingly overachieving) Ken Bono, and a head coach that does not know what he is doing. They just make me laugh. Props for bringing back Ramil Tagupa, though. I miss this guy.

9 Mail and More Comets – this is just so wrong. First of all, they are moonlighting in two leagues. And I just do not get who is backing them up. One NBC conference they are called Bacchus-Harbour Manila, then at another time, they are referred to as Bacchus San Juan. In a different dimension, they are the Mail and More Comets. Even if they have JR Aquino playing for them, they still the bottom of my list.